US Seeks Support Via the UN to Break Iran’s Hormuz Chokehold

(Bloomberg) -- The US and its allies are pushing a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would open the door to sanctions or even military action if Iran doesn’t ease its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.

The draft resolution marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to ramp up pressure on Tehran and to get buy-in from other countries for its effort to reopen the vital waterway, which has been largely closed since the US and Israel began attacking Iran in late February. A copy of the document was seen by Bloomberg News. 

US and Israeli forces wiped out much of Iran’s navy and air force over the course of the war but have been unable to get shipping moving through the strait again in the weeks since Iran began attacking vessels, with swarms of small boats posing another obstacle to smooth passage. 

The US has so far failed to get other nations to join in its efforts despite repeated urging.

The draft, which is likely to change in the coming days, calls on Iran to “immediately cease all attacks and threats against merchant and commercial vessels” and invokes the UN Charter’s Article 7, which allows for the use of force as well as sanctions and other measures if the draft isn’t followed.

The initiative faces uncertain prospects given that it will need support from Russia and China, both of which wield veto power as permanent members of the council. Last month, the two countries blocked a resolution that encouraged countries to coordinate defensive efforts to reopen the strait.

Under the new resolution, Iran must stop interfering with shipping in the strait, remove sea mines and allow safe navigation and humanitarian access. It prohibits member states from paying Tehran a toll to access Hormuz. 

It reaffirms that navigation through the strait should not be “unlawfully impeded” but makes makes no mention of the US blockade of Iranian vessels or ships going to and from Iranian ports. 

“China and Russia have no reason to entertain a Chapter 7 text that also casts Iran as the sole aggressor — the very same points that provoked their vetoes during last month’s vote,” said Daniel Forti, who heads UN affairs at the International Crisis Group.

At the same time, the US has launched Project Freedom, an initiative that would offer US military support to ships passing through the strait. President Donald Trump announced that plan on Monday, and the US forces later traded fire with Iran as they shepherded two container vessels through Hormuz.

“This is an incredibly important precedent that we are setting here,” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told reporters on Monday. “No country has a right to punish the rest of the world because it has a conflict with another country.”

Waltz, who is working with Bahrain and Gulf States on the resolution, predicted it has “a very reasonable chance of passage.”

“We can’t imagine someone opposing the fact that you can’t mine international waterways and you can’t take tolls,” he said, adding that the UN effort is “separate” but “parallel” to Project Freedom.

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